Smarter charging of plug-in vehicles

ABSTRACT

A system is described to enable charging of electric vehicles. A scheduler determines charging profiles for electric vehicles based on a time period within a day that is beneficial to an electric grid while still meeting the needs of drivers of the electric vehicles. A service provider charges the electric vehicles according to the charging profiles.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of, and claims priorityto, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/309,407, titled “SmarterCharging of Plug-in Vehicles,” filed on Dec. 1, 2011. The disclosure ofthe foregoing application is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND 1. Field of Art

The present disclosure generally relates to the field of chargingplug-in vehicles.

2. Description of Related Art

An electric vehicle is propelled by an electric motor(s) that useselectrical energy stored in an energy storage device such as a battery.When the electrical energy stored in the energy storage device of anelectric vehicle is depleted, the electric vehicle is connected or“plugged-in” to an electrical grid for charging. The electrical gridsupplies power to the electric vehicle to charge the energy storagedevice used by the vehicle.

Generally, electric vehicles are encouraged to charge during off-peakhours of the electrical grid to prevent the increase of loads duringon-peak hours. However, setting fixed charging times for off-peakcharging of electric vehicles results in most electric vehicles beingprogrammed to start charging at the same time. Given the typical usageof an electric vehicle, the time needed to recharge the vehicle mayresult in the vehicle being charged well before the time the owner needsthe vehicle charged. Accordingly, there is no need to charge electricvehicles at the same off-peak time.

SUMMARY

Renewable energy generation using a natural resource (e.g., wind,sunlight, rain, tides, and geothermal heat) differs every day and duringdifferent times of a day depending on the weather. The embodimentsdisclosed herein provide continuously optimized scheduling of chargingfor electric vehicles. The electric vehicles are charged in a mannerthat helps grid operators integrate renewable energy generation toprevent these renewable sources from being wasted while at the same timemeeting the needs of drivers to have their cars fully charged.

In one embodiment, a scheduler is an entity operating between a gridoperator of an electric grid and a service provider that facilitatescharging of electric vehicles. The scheduler communicates with theservice provider to determine status information of electric vehiclesthat need charging. The status information for an electric vehicle maydescribe how much energy is required by the vehicle, the rate in whichthe vehicle can be charged, and a time when the charging of the electricvehicle needs to be completed.

The scheduler communicates status information of electric vehicles thatneed charging to a grid operator and requests a desired power profilefrom the grid operator based on the status information. The schedulerreceives a power profile from the grid operator which describes a timeperiod in which to charge the electric vehicles and the amount ofavailable power to supply to the electric vehicles during the timeperiod. In one embodiment, the time period described by the powerprofile may correspond to the time in which a renewable energy source(e.g., a wind turbine) is operating at peak energy generation.

The scheduler determines a charging profile for each electric vehiclebased on the power profile provided by the grid operator. In oneembodiment, a charging profile describes a schedule for charging anelectric vehicle. The charging profile may comprise a time in which tobegin charging the electric vehicle, a time in which to stop chargingthe electric vehicle, and a rate in which to charge the electricvehicle. The scheduler develops the charging profile for an electricvehicle such that the vehicle will be charged by the desired time of theassociated driver while maximizing the renewable energy supplied by theelectric grid. Thus, the scheduler determines schedules for charging theelectric vehicles taking into account the needs of all the drivers in amanner that best suits the power profile of the electric grid. Thescheduler transmits the charging profiles to the service provider whothen charges each electric vehicle according to its associated chargingprofile.

The features and advantages described in the specification are not allinclusive and, in particular, many additional features and advantageswill be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of thedrawings, specification, and claims. Moreover, it should be noted thatthe language used in the specification has been principally selected forreadability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selectedto delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an operation environment for charging electricalvehicles, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B respectively illustrate a power profile of anelectrical grid and charging profiles of electric vehicles with respectto the power profile, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates an interaction diagram describing a process forcharging electric vehicles, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates an interaction diagram describing an alternativeprocess for charging electric vehicles, according to one embodiment.

The figures depict various embodiments for purposes of illustrationonly. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the followingdescription that alternative embodiments of the structures and methodsillustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principlesdescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

System Architecture

Electric grids are operated by a grid operator that adjusts thegeneration levels of non-renewable power sources (e.g., fossil fuels) toallow as much renewable energy generation as possible onto the electricgrid. However, grid operators may be forced to curtail renewable energygeneration (e.g., turn off wind turbines) at times of the day whennon-renewable energy sources have been turned down, such as duringoff-peak hours, due to the lack of energy demand from the grid. Thus,the energy generation from these renewable energy sources is wasted. Theembodiments disclosed herein provide continuously optimized schedulingof charging for electric vehicles. The electric vehicles are charged ina manner that helps grid operators integrate renewable energy generationto prevent these renewable sources from being wasted while at the sametime meeting the needs of drivers to have their cars fully charged.

FIG. 1 illustrates an operating environment 100 for charging electricvehicles in accordance with one embodiment. Note that although thediscussion herein is described with respect to electric vehicles, theembodiments are applicable to any form of plug-in vehicle such asbattery powered vehicles or plug-in hybrid vehicles. The operatingenvironment 100 comprises an electrical grid 101, a service provider107, a grid operator 103, a scheduler 105, electric vehicles 113, and atransmission and distribution system 111, such as high voltagetransmission lines, transformers, and low voltage distribution wiring,that supplies electrical power to loads. The term “load” may refer to aparticular power drawing electrical component, e.g., an electric orhybrid car that is plugged into an electrical system to recharge arechargeable battery inside the car. In the context of the descriptionherein, the load refers to electric vehicles 113. However, theembodiments herein may be applied to any type of controllable load thathas flexibility in its charging schedule.

Although not shown in FIG. 1, the grid 101 comprises one or more powerplants operated by a supplier, such as an entity owning the powerplants. A power plant may be, for example, based on a non-renewableenergy source such as a fossil fueled power plant or a nuclear powerplant. Alternatively, a power plant may be, for example, based on arenewable energy source such as a solar thermal electric plant, a solarphotovoltaic power plant, a hydroelectric power plant, or a windturbine.

The grid 101 is overseen by a grid operator 103 that manages the supplyof power on the electrical grid 101. For example, the grid operator maybe an entity, e.g., an Independent System Operator (ISO) or RegionalTransmission Operator (RTO), that is part of, formed at the directionof, or authorized by a government regulatory agency such as the FederalEnergy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The government regulatory agencycoordinates, controls, and monitors the operation of the electricalpower system within a geographical region such as a state or multiplestates within the United States of America.

During operation of the grid 101, the grid operator 103 coordinates thesupply of power available to be in balance with loads in the electricalgrid 101 including electric vehicles 113. The grid operator 103 or acomputer system of the operator 103 determines the amount of supplynecessary and contracts with various energy suppliers to provide suchpower. In response to a signal sent through a communication network 109,e.g., the Internet, from a computer system of the operator 103, acomputer system of the supplier can increase or decrease the powergenerated by a power plant supplied to the loads. That is, the gridoperator 103 increases or decreases the power sent by the power plantthrough the transmission and distribution system 111 to the electricalgrid 101, and thus to the electric vehicles 113.

In one embodiment, the grid operator 103 develops desired power profilesfor charging electric vehicles 113. A power profile describes a specifictime period in which to charge electric vehicles 113 and the amount ofavailable power to supply to the electric vehicles 113 during the timeperiod defined by the power profile. The time period may comprise awhole day or a specific time period within a given day in which tocharge electric vehicles 113.

In one embodiment, the specific time period described by a power profilecorresponds to a duration of time in which a renewable energy source(e.g., a wind turbine) is operating at peak energy generation. Thus, thepower profile developed by the grip operator 103 maximizes the renewableenergy generated by the renewable energy source. By developing the powerprofile based on the time period associated with peak energy generationby the renewable power source, the grid operator 103 prevents curtailingof the renewable energy source because the renewable energy is beingutilized to charge electric vehicles 113.

The grid operator 103 may also develop the desired power profile basedon the needs of the drivers of the electrical vehicles 113. As will befurther described below, an electrical vehicle 113 may require aparticular amount of energy for charging and may need to be charged by aspecific time to accommodate the needs of the driver of the vehicle. Thegrid operator 103 may develop a desired power profile to account for thetotal amount of energy required to charge a plurality of electricalvehicles 113 that meet the time requirements of the drivers of theelectrical vehicles 113.

FIG. 2A illustrates an example of a power profile 200 generated by thegrid operator 103. The power profile 200 is a function of time and powerand is developed to coincide with the time period of peak energygeneration by a renewable power source. The power profile 200 indicatesthat electric vehicles 113 may begin charging at time t₁. The amount ofpower available for charging electric vehicles 113 increases betweentime t₁ and time t2. The maximum power generated by the renewable energysource is reached at time t2 and is available for charging electricvehicles 113 until time t3. From time t3, the amount of renewable energyavailable to charge electric vehicles 113 decreases from maximum powerto zero at time t4. Thus, power profile 200 describes a specific timerange (time t₁ to time t4) and the amount of available power during thetime range to charge electric vehicles 113.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the service provider 107 facilitates chargingof electric vehicles 113. A service provider 107 may represent carcompanies (e.g., NISSAN) or charging station network operators (e.g.,COULOMB TECHNOLOGIES). In one embodiment, the service provider 107facilitates charging of an electric vehicle 113 according to a chargingprofile specific to the electric vehicle 113 as will be furtherdescribed with respect to the scheduler 105. Rather than immediatelycharging an electric vehicle 113 when the vehicle is connected to acharging station at the service provider 107, the service provider 107communicates with the charging station to charge the electric vehicle113 according to its associated charging profile. Alternatively, theservice provider 107 may communicate directly with electric vehicles 113instructing the vehicles 113 to charge according to their respectivecharging profiles. Charging electrical vehicles 113 according to theircharging profiles prevents the unnecessary charging of the electricalvehicles 113 at the same time.

As individual electric vehicles 113 are plugged into a charging stationprovided by the service provider 107, the service provider 107 maycommunicate with the electric vehicles via existing cellular dataconnections in the vehicles 113 or other communication means to requestvehicle status information. The service provider 107 aggregates thevehicle status information into a file and communicates the aggregatedvehicle status information to the scheduler 105 along with requests forcharging profiles for the electric vehicles 113. In one embodiment, theservice provider 107 receives one or more of the following vehiclestatus information from an electrical vehicle 113:

-   -   a vehicle identifier (ID) that uniquely identifies the electric        vehicle 113;    -   an approximate location (e.g., geospatial identifiers) of the        electric vehicle 113;    -   an amount of charging energy required by the electric vehicle        113 in kilowatt hour (kWh);    -   a maximum charging rate in kilowatt (kW) of the electric vehicle        113;    -   an earliest time when charging of the electric vehicle 113 can        begin; and    -   a time when charging of the electric vehicle 113 needs to be        completed.

In one embodiment, the amount of charging energy required by theelectric vehicle 113 corresponds to an amount needed for the electricalvehicle 113 to reach full charge (i.e., maximum capacity).Alternatively, the amount of required energy may correspond to an amountthat is less than the maximum capacity of the electrical vehicle 113.For example, the driver may specify that he or she only needs theelectric vehicle 113 to be charged to half the maximum capacity of theelectrical vehicle 113.

The earliest time when the electrical vehicle 113 can begin charging maybe associated with a time when the vehicle is no longer in use by thedriver and thus can begin charging and/or when the electrical vehicle113 is plugged into a charging station. In another embodiment, theearliest time when the electrical vehicle 113 may begin charging isassociated with a time at which off-peak electricity rates start. Thetime when charging of the electrical vehicle 113 needs to be completedis associated with when the driver needs charging of the electricalvehicle 113 to be completed so that the driver may use the vehicle. Forexample, the driver may specify that he or she needs the electricalvehicle 113 to be charged to the required amount by 9 AM. Alternatively,the service provider 107 may specify the time of charging completion ifthe driver does not provide a time for completion.

The scheduler 105 (e.g., GOOGLE INC.) is the entity operating betweenthe grid operator 103 and the service provider 107. The scheduler 105determines charging profiles for electric vehicles 113 in response torequests for the charging profiles from the service provider 107. In oneembodiment, a charging profile for an electric vehicle 113 comprises astart time describing a time in which to begin charging the electricvehicle 113 and an end time describing a time in which to stop chargingthe electric vehicle 113. The start time for an electric vehicle 113typically corresponds to a time after the electric vehicle 113 isplugged in for charging at the service provider 107. Generally, thestart time corresponds to a time that allows enough time to charge theelectric vehicle 113 by the desired time indicated in the statusinformation for the vehicle 113. At the latest, the end time willcorrespond to the time when charging of the electric vehicle needs to becompleted as indicated in the vehicle status information for theelectric vehicle 113. The charging profile may further comprise acharging rate in which to charge the electric vehicle 113. The chargingrate may correspond to the maximum charging rate of the electric vehicleor a rate that is less than the maximum charging rate, or a variablecharging rate.

The scheduler 105 generates the charging profile for each electricvehicle 113 according to the desired power profile provided by the gridoperator 103, the vehicle status information for the electric vehicle113, and the vehicle status information for the other electric vehicles113 that need to be charged. Particularly, the scheduler 105 determinesthe start time to begin charging the electric vehicle 113 based on theallocated time period for charging electric vehicles 113 described bythe power profile of the grid 101, the required time that the electricvehicle 113 should be done charging, the amount of energy required bythe electric vehicle 113 to reach the desired charge, and the chargerate of the electric vehicle 113. The scheduler 105 generates thecharging profiles for the electric vehicles 113 to ensure that allelectric vehicles 113 that need charging are charged by the requiredtime indicated in the status information for the vehicles 113. In oneembodiment, the scheduler 105 may implement a first-fit algorithm or abest fit decreasing algorithm to determine the charging profile for eachelectric vehicle 113 based on the power profile provide by the gridoperator 103. Once the charging profiles for the electric vehicles 111are determined by the scheduler 105, the scheduler 105 communicates thecharging profiles to the service provider 107. Note that in oneembodiment, the scheduler 105 and service provider 107 may be a singleentity that performs the functions described herein of the scheduler 105and service provider 107.

In one embodiment, the scheduler 105 may update charging profiles forelectric vehicles 113 that are nearing their start time for charging(i.e., vehicles that have yet to begin charging). The scheduler 105 mayreceive an indication from the service provider 107 that an electricvehicle 113 is scheduled to begin charging within a threshold time ofthe start time for the vehicle such as 1 hour from the start time. Thescheduler 105 may communicate with the grid operator 103 to determine anupdated power profile that accounts for current energy generatingconditions of the renewable energy source. Based on the updated powerprofile, the scheduler 105 may generate an updated charging profile forthe electric vehicle and communicate the updated charging profile to theservice provider 107. The updated power profile may comprise an updatedstart time, updated end time, and/or updated charging rate for theelectrical vehicle 113 that is distinct from the start time, end time,and/or charging rate originally specified in the charging profile forthe electrical vehicle 113.

The scheduler 105 may also receive, from the service provider 107,actual charging information from the electric vehicles 113 that werecharged according to the charging profiles developed by the scheduler105. The charging information for each electrical vehicle 113 describesthe actual start time in which the vehicle actually began charging, theactual end time in which the vehicle actually completed charging, andthe actual rate in which the vehicle was charged. The scheduler 105 mayutilize the actual charging information to better develop chargingprofiles for electric vehicles in the future taking into account anydelays when vehicles actually began and completed charging.

FIG. 2B illustrates the desired power profile 200 of FIG. 2A including aplurality of charging profiles 201 for electric vehicles 113 that needcharging. FIG. 2B illustrates a total of 9 charging profiles 201 (201Athrough 201I) for electric vehicles 113. A charging profile for anelectric vehicle 113 is represented by a rectangle in FIG. 2B. The widthof each rectangle indicates the start time and end time in which anassociated electric vehicle 113 is charged in accordance with thedesired power profile 200. As shown in FIG. 2B, each of the electricvehicles 113 represented by the charging profiles begins and endscharging at different times rather than the vehicles synchronouslycharging at the same time until completion. The height of each rectangleindicates the rate at which the associated electric vehicle 113 will becharged. Note that although FIG. 2B illustrates a uniform rate ofcharging for each electric vehicle 113 for simplicity of illustration,the rate of charging may vary during the time in which the vehicle ischarging or may vary from vehicle to vehicle.

Schemes for Charging Electric Vehicles

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of the interaction between the gridoperator 103, scheduler 105, service provider 107, vehicle 1, andvehicle 2 to charge the vehicles. Note that in other embodiments, othersteps may be performed other than those illustrated in FIG. 3.

Vehicle 1 and vehicle 2 both transmit 301 their associated statusinformation to the service provider 107. Vehicle 1 and 2 may use theirexisting cellular data connections to communicate the status informationto the service provider 107. As described above, the status informationfor each vehicle comprises a vehicle ID, the location of the vehicle, anamount of charging energy required by the vehicle, a maximum chargingrate, an earliest time when the vehicle can begin charging, and a timewhen the vehicle should be done charging. The service provider 107aggregates 303 the status information for vehicle 1 and vehicle 2 forcommunication to the scheduler 105.

The service provider 107 requests 305 charging profiles for vehicles 1and 2. The request includes the aggregated status information for thevehicles. The scheduler 105 transmits 307 the aggregated statusinformation to the grid operator 103. The grid operator 103 determines309 a power profile in which to serve the energy required by vehicle 1and vehicle 2 that takes into consideration the peak energy generationof a renewable energy source and the needs of the drivers as indicatedin the aggregated status information. The grid operator 103 transmits311 the power profile to the scheduler 105. The scheduler 105 determines313 charging profiles for vehicle 1 and vehicle 2 based on the powerprofile received from the grid operator 103 and the status informationof the vehicles.

The scheduler 105 transmits 315 the charging profiles to the serviceprovider 107. The service provider 107 charges 317 vehicle 1 and vehicle2 according to their respective charging profile which describes thestart time, end time, and charging rate for each vehicle. Vehicle 1 andvehicle 2 may transmit 319 charging information to the service provider319 indicating the actual charge start time, actual stop time, andactual rate of charge. The service provider 107 aggregates 321 thecharging information and transmits 323 the charging information to thescheduler 105. Based on the charging information, the scheduler 105 mayoptimize 325 the charging algorithms used to determine the chargingprofiles for electric vehicles 313 taking into account any delayregarding when the electrical vehicles actually begin charging andfinish charging.

FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of the interaction between energysuppliers 401, the scheduler 105, service provider 107, vehicle 1 , andvehicle 2 to charge the vehicles. In one embodiment, energy suppliers401 represent various entities that supply energy for the electricalgrid 101. Each energy supplier 401 submits bids describing a cost (e.g.,3 cents per kWh) of energy supplied by the energy supplier 401. Thescheduler 105 purchases energy from the energy supplier 401 based on thereceived bids as will be described below. Note that in otherembodiments, other steps may be performed other than those illustratedin FIG. 4.

Similar to FIG. 3, vehicle 1 and vehicle 2 both transmit 403 theirassociated status information to the service provider 107. The serviceprovider 107 aggregates 405 the status information for vehicle 1 andvehicle 2 for communication to the scheduler 105. The service provider107 requests 407 charging profiles for vehicles 1 and 2. The requestincludes the aggregated status information for the vehicles.

In one embodiment, the energy suppliers 401 transmit bids 413 to amarketplace 409. The marketplace 409 comprises a virtual location (e.g.,an online website) in which energy suppliers 401 provide bids for theirenergy. Each energy supplier 401 includes in the bid a cost of energysupplied by the energy supplier 401. A bid may include a desired powerprofile in which the energy supplier 401 can provide their energy in oneembodiment. The scheduler 105 purchases 411 energy from the marketplace409 from an energy supplier 401.

In one embodiment, the scheduler 105 selects an energy supplier 401based on the needs of the vehicles as described in the aggregated statusinformation received from the service provider 107. The scheduler 105may analyze the power profiles from the energy suppliers 401 todetermine which energy supplier can provide energy which fits energyneeds of the vehicles. That is, the scheduler 105 determines whichenergy supplier can supply energy to charge the vehicles by therequested time indicated in the vehicle status information. Thescheduler 105 may also select an energy supplier 401 based on cost. Thescheduler 105 may select an energy supplier 401 that fits the energyneeds of the vehicles at the lowest cost.

Once energy is purchased, the scheduler 105 determines 412 a powerprofile in which energy is served to vehicle 1 and vehicle 2. Note thatin alternative embodiments, the power profile included in a bid by anenergy supplier 401 is utilized. The scheduler 105 then determines 413charging profiles for vehicle 1 and vehicle 2 based on the determinedpower profile and the status information of the vehicles. The scheduler105 transmits 415 the charging profiles to the service provider 107. Theservice provider 107 charges 417 vehicle 1 and vehicle 2 according totheir respective charging profile which describes the start time, endtime, and charging rate for each vehicle. Vehicle 1 and vehicle 2 maytransmit 419 charging information to the service provider 107 indicatingthe actual charge start time, actual stop time, and actual rate ofcharge. The service provider 107 aggregates 421 the charging informationand transmits 423 the charging information to the scheduler 105. Basedon the charging information, the scheduler 105 may optimize 423 thecharging algorithms used to determine the charging profiles for electricvehicles 313.

Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or to “an embodiment”means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic isincluded in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. The appearancesof the phrase “in one embodiment” or “a preferred embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification are not necessarily referring to the sameembodiment.

Some portions of the above are presented in terms of methods andsymbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computermemory. These descriptions and representations are the means used bythose skilled in the art to most effectively convey the substance oftheir work to others skilled in the art. A method is here, andgenerally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps(instructions) leading to a desired result. The steps are thoserequiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, thoughnot necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical, magneticor optical signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined,compared and otherwise manipulated. It is convenient at times,principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals asbits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or thelike. Furthermore, it is also convenient at times, to refer to certainarrangements of steps requiring physical manipulations of physicalquantities as modules or code devices, without loss of generality.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussion,it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizingterms such as “processing” or “computing” or “calculating” or“displaying” or “determining” or the like, refer to the action andprocesses of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device,that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical(electronic) quantities within the computer system memories or registersor other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

Certain aspects disclosed herein include process steps and instructionsdescribed herein in the form of a method. It should be noted that theprocess steps and instructions described herein can be embodied insoftware, firmware or hardware, and when embodied in software, can bedownloaded to reside on and be operated from different platforms used bya variety of operating systems.

The embodiments discussed above also relates to an apparatus forperforming the operations herein. This apparatus may be speciallyconstructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise ageneral-purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by acomputer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may bestored in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, such as,but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, opticaldisks, CD-ROMs, magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs),random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or opticalcards, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or any type ofmedia suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled toa computer system bus. Furthermore, the computers referred to in thespecification may include a single processor or may be architecturesemploying multiple processor designs for increased computing capability.

The methods and displays presented herein are not inherently related toany particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purposesystems may also be used with programs in accordance with the teachingsherein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specializedapparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structurefor a variety of these systems will appear from the description below.In addition, the embodiments are not described with reference to anyparticular programming language. It will be appreciated that a varietyof programming languages may be used to implement the teachingsdescribed herein, and any references below to specific languages areprovided for disclosure of enablement and best mode.

While the disclosure has been particularly shown and described withreference to a preferred embodiment and several alternate embodiments,it will be understood by persons skilled in the relevant art thatvarious changes in form and details can be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:receiving, at a charging station, a status information from an electricvehicle connected to the charging station, the status informationincluding a vehicle ID, an amount of charging energy required by theelectric vehicle, a charging rate of the electric vehicle, and acompletion time specified by a driver of the vehicle, the completiontime specifying when the charging of the electric vehicle is to becompleted; providing, from the charging station to a service providerthat serves a plurality of charging stations, the status information ofthe electric vehicle; receiving, at the charging station and from theservice provider at a first time, a start time specifying a time thatthe charging station is to start charging the electric vehicle, thestart time based in part on a charging profile specific to the vehicleID and determined by the service provider, and wherein the start time isafter the first time and calculated based on the charging rate of theelectrical vehicle and the completion time, and the charging profilebeing determined by the service provider and being one of plurality ofcharging profiles determined for electric vehicles based on an amount ofpower available on an electric grid for charging the plurality ofelectric vehicles, and that account for a total amount of energyrequired to charge the plurality of electrical vehicles that meet thetime requirements of the drivers of the electrical vehicles; delaying,at the charging station, the charging of the electric vehicle until acurrent time is equal to the start time; and when the current time isequal to the start time, charging, by the charging station, the electricvehicle.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the timeto start charging the electric vehicle is after a time when the electricvehicle is connected to a charging station.
 3. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, further comprising receiving, at the charging stationand from the service provider, a stop time specifying a time to stopcharging the electric vehicle.
 4. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 3, wherein the stop time is before the completion time whencharging of the electric vehicle is to be completed.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the charging profilespecifies an amount of charging energy required by the electric vehicleand a maximum charging rate of the electric vehicle.
 6. A computerprogram product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium containing executable computer program code that causes acharging station to perform operations comprising: receiving, at acharging station, a status information from an electric vehicleconnected to the charging station, the status information including avehicle ID, an amount of charging energy required by the electricvehicle, a charging rate of the electric vehicle, and a completion timespecified by a driver of the vehicle, the completion time specifyingwhen the charging of the electric vehicle is to be completed; providing,from the charging station to a service provider that serves a pluralityof charging stations, the status information of the electric vehicle;receiving, at the charging station and from the service provider at afirst time, a start time specifying a time that the charging station isto start charging the electric vehicle, the start time based in part ona charging profile specific to the vehicle ID and determined by theservice provider, and wherein the start time is after the first time andcalculated based on the charging rate of the electrical vehicle and thecompletion time, and the charging profile being determined by theservice provider and being one of plurality of charging profilesdetermined for electric vehicles based on an amount of power availableon an electric grid for charging the plurality of electric vehicles, andthat account for a total amount of energy required to charge theplurality of electrical vehicles that meet the time requirements of thedrivers of the electrical vehicles; delaying, at the charging station,the charging of the electric vehicle until a current time is equal tothe start time; and when the current time is equal to the start time,charging, by the charging station, the electric vehicle.
 7. The computerprogram product of claim 6, wherein the time to start charging theelectric vehicle is after a time when the electric vehicle is connectedto a charging station.
 8. The computer program product of claim 6,further comprising receiving, at the charging station and from theservice provider, a stop time specifying a time to stop charging theelectric vehicle.
 9. The computer program product of claim 8, whereinthe stop time is before the completion time when charging of theelectric vehicle is to be completed.
 10. The computer program product ofclaim 6, wherein the charging profile specifies an amount of chargingenergy required by the electric vehicle and a maximum charging rate ofthe electric vehicle.
 11. A charging station for charging electricvehicles, the charging station comprising a processing device,electrical conductors, and a memory storing instructions that whenexecuted by the processing device cause the charging station to performoperations comprising: receiving, at the charging station, a statusinformation from an electric vehicle connected to the charging station,the status information including a vehicle ID, an amount of chargingenergy required by the electric vehicle, a charging rate of the electricvehicle, and a completion time specified by a driver of the vehicle, thecompletion time specifying when the charging of the electric vehicle isto be completed; providing, from the charging station to a serviceprovider that serves a plurality of charging stations, the statusinformation of the electric vehicle; receiving, at the charging stationand from the service provider at a first time, a start time specifying atime that the charging station is to start charging the electricvehicle, the start time based in part on a charging profile specific tothe vehicle ID and determined by the service provider, and wherein thestart time is after the first time and calculated based on the chargingrate of the electrical vehicle and the completion time, and the chargingprofile being determined by the service provider and being one ofplurality of charging profiles determined for electric vehicles based onan amount of power available on an electric grid for charging theplurality of electric vehicles, and that account for a total amount ofenergy required to charge the plurality of electrical vehicles that meetthe time requirements of the drivers of the electrical vehicles;delaying, at the charging station, the charging of the electric vehicleuntil a current time is equal to the start time; and when the currenttime is equal to the start time, charging, by the charging station, theelectric vehicle.
 12. The charging station of claim 11, wherein the timeto start charging the electric vehicle is after a time when the electricvehicle is connected to a charging station.
 13. The charging station ofclaim 11, further comprising receiving, at the charging station and fromthe service provider, a stop time specifying a time to stop charging theelectric vehicle.
 14. The charging station of claim 13, wherein the stoptime is before the completion time when charging of the electric vehicleis to be completed.
 15. The charging station of claim 11, wherein thecharging profile specifies an amount of charging energy required by theelectric vehicle and a maximum charging rate of the electric vehicle.